Jean-Georges - Cooking at Home with a Four Star Chef
Dining with this group of gourmet cooks is like eating out at the French Laundry or Manresa without all the reservation fuss. We enjoy great wines without paying corkage (plus no limit to how many bottles we can open!). We have two (soon to be 4) wine collectors who can speak to us about the wines. Each dish is plated so our dinners tend to be 8-10 courses. And, even if it always surprises us, we finish each and every entre! The short breaks in between each course so the cook can do the final assembly are welcome as they allow us to enjoy the different wines and great converation. We’ve also learned to make our serving portions smaller, following Thomas Keller and David Kinch’s example of enough to give everyone a delightful taste of each dish and still leave room for the next course!
The only general complaint about Jean-Georges Vonrichecten’s cookbook is that one must already be a pretty good cook and guess what he really meant. You have to know what you’re cooking and what kind of results you want and figure out the specificities yourself. Not enough pictures...that's always my general complaint about cookbooks.
Many of his recipes, however, use very few ingredients and are extremely simple AND delicious. For example, his Tomato Towers.
I tried his Potato Ravioli Stuffed With Wild Mushrooms and since the instructions didn’t really state how crispy to fry the potato ravioli’s, and no photos, I’m not sure I did the recipe correctly but I definitely did not like the outcome….which surprised me since he states that it is one of the more popular items on his restaurant menu. Mary tried his pound cake recipe, Sableuse, and, again, she’s not sure if she did it correctly but it definitely was not “light,” which is how his comments described the dessert.
I tried his Peanut Crusted Ribs recipe and the Shrimp with Rice Noodles Salad recipes and loved both of them. Very interesting combinations of spices and very nice blending of tastes as a result. Sandi W. and Willie, tried several of his other recipes and haven’t found one they didn’t like yet…but then, they ARE more experienced gourmet cooks than I!
So, on with our dinner!
Our October 4th dinner had 8 courses starting with the
Mushroom Tarts with Onions & Walnuts (p. 8). Sandi U. prepared the tarts using Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry instead of making her own. She tried Trader Joe’s Gourmet puff pastries but the result was heavy and doughy. The recipe calls for 6” tarts but she made 4” tarts to make the portions smaller. It was served with Baron Fuente nv Champagne Grand Reserve Brut France which complemented the tarts with a rich and creamy champagne.
Janis prepared Creamy Butternut Squash Soup (p. 29) which was wonderfully thick, rich and creamy without much cream in the recipe! It was easy to prepare, according to Janis and everyone thought the result was delicious. Bill offered a Chateau de Sancerre 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Sancerre France to go with the soup and next course.
Annie made the Tomato Towers with Basil (p. 2) using heirloom tomatoes from her own garden. The hardest part was finding tender basil leaves and getting the tomatoes to stay upright. The recipe calls for salt flakes to be sprinkled on top but Annie left the salt addition up to each diner. We continued to drink the Sancerre with this dish.
Salmon en Papillote (p. 74) was prepared by Jeffrey with Salmon that he personally caught in Alaska last month. He tried it with the Halibut but like the salmon better. He also recommends using parchment paper instead of the tin foil that the recipe calls for. Jeffrey brought wines from his winery to share with the dish, Mount Eden 2006 Chardonnay and Mount Eden 2004 Pinot Noir. Some people liked the Chardonnay better with the salmon and others like the Pinot.
Annie also made the Fennel & Apple Salad with Junipers (p. 48). A surprisingly wonderful combination of flavors. It is important that you have a mandolin to prepare this dish…the thin slices made the dish spectacular!
The main course was Duck a la Jo Jo (p. 100) The duck breasts were cooked rare and perfectly prepared by Sandi W. She said it took time to de-bone the ducks to get the broth she needed for the dish and a lot of prep work but once done, easy to assemble. Sandy P. made two side dishes to go with the duck. Simmered Carrots with Cumin & Orange (p. 130) and Peppery Green Beans (p. 127). She is a big fan of Jean-Georges because of the simplicity of the recipes and these two dishes are prime examples of how to get delicious results with little preparation. Bill provided a Swanson 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. Swanson, of the Swanson frozen food company, has been making wines for a long time. This wine opened up after a while but several people thought the Mount Eden Pinot was a better wine for the duck.
Willie baked the Warm Soft Chocolate Cake (p. 168) that just melted in our mouths. He served it with Cinnamon ice cream and if you are a chocoholic, this is the dish to have for dessert. Sandi U. brought a tenth of the 2004 FroZin, Meeker Vineyards, Sonoma County as she believes it’s a wine that goes well with chocolate….although I’m not sure everyone agreed. Some tried the pinot and cabernets with the dessert as well.
As you can see, we ate well, had great conversations about the dishes, cooking in general and got to know each other a bit more as well. Ahhh, THIS is how life should be!
